Advanced security protection for your Google Account
From encrypted search to security alerts in Gmail, we’re always looking at new ways to make your online experience more secure.
Building on that tradition, starting today we’re offering an advanced sign-in security feature for Google Accounts called 2-step verification.
Most of us are familiar with 1-step verification, which requires a username and password to sign in. 2-step verification adds an extra layer of security to your Google Account by requiring two factors for authentication: your username and password, plus a unique code generated by your mobile phone.
It's an extra step, but it's one that significantly improves the security of your Google Account. Now, if someone steals or guesses your password, the potential hijacker still can’t sign in to your account because he doesn’t have your phone.
We first rolled out 2-step verification for our Google Apps customers last year, and now we’re excited to bring the same advanced protection to all our users. To learn how to set up 2-step verification on your account, check out the Official Google Blog.